Energy of Africa is a solar company with over 10 years experience with branches in Pretoria, Johannesburg and Capetown.
South Africans are strong, resilient and adaptable. We face many challenges including load-shedding. Energy of Africa provides South Africans the tools to become savvy with their electricity. A professionally designed system leads to uninterrupted work flow and lifestyle. It’s also a great way to save money on electricity bills and better for the environment.
To achieve this, we work with and employ people, partners and companies that share this vision. That is working hard in their chosen fields to make a difference, to be world class in what they do and is striving to be the best, just as we strive to do the same.
Solar power is a reliable source of energy as long as the solar panels are properly installed and maintained. The availability of sunlight can vary depending on location and weather conditions, but modern solar power systems include battery storage so that electricity can still be generated and stored even when the sun is not shining
The cost of installing solar power can vary depending on the size of the system. Some people prefer to start with a smaller system or even a back up system for as little as R 10 000 with the idea to upgrade later. Other's prefer to go completely off grid and be self reliant and those systems can be from R 180 000.
Yes! The upside is that you start saving money on your electricity bills immediately when you install your solar system. And you keep saving yearly Eskom and Municipal rate increases come into play.
There are 2 ways to finance your solar system. The first is to do a rent to own option where you basically rent the system for a period and then pay one additional installment and the system becomes yours. Our finance partners handle the whole application process on your behalf and submit the application to 16 different financial institutions to get the best deal they can for you.
The second option is to do a bond extension on your existing home loan. This makes sense because your monthly repayment is lower and the solar system is an add on as well as a value add to your house. If you want to sell your home in future it just adds to the appeal for new buyers.
We need some basic information from you to be able to design a solar system:
Solar panel bank: How much energy do you use on average per month (kWh per month or Rand per month)? You can get this info from your electricity bills. The more energy you use per month the bigger the solar panel bank has to be to supply you with the same amount of energy that you would have gotten from the grid. E.g. 1 x 455 watt solar panel would generate about 70 kWh per month.
Inverter: What loads (appliances, lights, equipment, etc) do you want to run on the system? Do you have any 3 phase equipment (pumps, aircons, machinery, etc) running?
The more loads you want to run the bigger the inverter capacity has to be. If you just want to run basic loads (light, TV, Fridges, Internet, kitchen appliances, etc) the entry level inverter we recommend is a 5kVa machine. If you want to run elements (geyser, stove, heaters, etc) from the inverter it has to be sized even bigger (8 to 16 kVa).
In case you have 3 phase equipment you can either leave it on the grid or run it using a 3 phase inverter configuration.
Battery bank: What loads do you usually run at night? What do you want to be able to have running when there is load shedding/power outages?
The lithium battery bank size is determined by your night load and/or energy requirements during load shedding. The more energy you use the bigger the battery bank has to be.
A small power system is an all in one solution for load-shedding. It is one compact unit that is a battery and inverter. The inverter draws electricity from usual municipal plugs or your solar panels (which you can add later). It is the ideal way to start your solar smart journey.